19/10/2025

ON SUNDAY October 19, 2025 theSunday Special XI

From mountains of fabric to clarity Instead of asking me to get rid of things immediately, Rebecca encouraged me to start by sorting clothes into “like with like” categories, such as shirts with shirts, pants with pants and so on. Even doing that felt like a shift. She asked thoughtful questions along the way: “Do you feel energised or heavy when you look at this piece?” “Is this something you would choose to wear today?” “Who were you when you bought this?” I hadn’t realised how much guilt I was holding, not just from overspending, but from the weight of gifts I didn’t love but felt obliged to keep. That remark about my mother-in-law lightened the mood and it also allowed me to see the clothes for what they were: Things, not obligations. Throughout the session, she reminded me that decluttering doesn’t mean throw ing everything away. It means making conscious decisions about what to keep, what to thank and release and what to store more intentionally. What changed after the call I didn’t transform overnight. But some thing had shifted. That evening, I cleared half my bed. The next day, I folded the remaining clothes. By the end of the week, I had three bags for donation and one for recycling. The sense of progress was subtle but steady.

a cure for depression, but it is a supportive practice. In one of the talks on financial lit eracy by the Malaysia Financial Planning Council that I attended, they discussed how cluttered spaces can lead to financial clutter, including missed bills, duplicated purchases and unorganised statements. “The state of your home can reflect the state of your finances and mind,” the expert panellist said, whose name has tragically been ‘decluttered’ from my mind. I began to see decluttering not as a chore, but as a healing ritual. A way to reintroduce structure into a life that often feels frayed at the edges. F inal reflections What started as a free 30-minute call led to deeper, longer conversations with myself. I still shop occasionally, but now I pause. I ask if the item supports my “spark vision”. I ask if I’m buying from joy or from panic. And most days, I now walk into my room and feel a sense of peace. There’s still work to do. Healing takes time. But I now know that clutter is not the enemy; avoidance is. The moment I permitted myself to start, imperfectly and awkwardly, I had already begun. Rebecca’s complimentary session re minded me of something powerful: clarity doesn’t come after the clean-up. It comes the moment you decide you’re worthy of a space that reflects who you are becoming. Even if you start with just one pile. O h and I can finally sleep on the bed comfortably.

C hoose one starting point with no pressure to finish everything in one go.

Most importantly, I stopped shaming myself for the mess and started treating my space and myself with more kindness. I even gently asked my mother-in-law not to buy me any more clothes, since I already have too many (and I didn’t want her to waste a lot of money). In the weeks that followed, I used the free resources Rebecca shared to guide me through the following steps: Tackling my books, sentimental items and eventually, my digital clutter. The decluttering format provided me with a manageable container, allowing me to work for 60 minutes at a time, with no pressure to finish everything in one go. “People don’t just acquire things; they

assign emotional significance to them,” I remembered Rebecca’s words as I went through my clutter. It explained why I held on to that vin tage designer bag from a thrift shop, even though it was falling apart. Or the shoes I hadn’t worn since 2018. Letting go wasn’t just about space; it was about letting go of stories that no longer served me. Decluttering as a healing ritual In Malaysia, where mental health services have become more accessible (especially within the Klang Valley), taking small personal actions, such as decluttering through a special programme or service, can offer a way to reclaim control. It’s not

O nly remaining clothes … The sense of progress was subtle but steady.